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Wiktionary

rebus

See also: Rebus, rébus, and rebus'

English

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WOTD – 11 March 2021
 
A rebus (sense 1) for the phrase “I understand”, represented by a picture of an eye under the word stand.
 
The coat of arms of Princess Beatrice, the daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York. It bears a label with three bees, that is, “bees thrice”, a rebus (sense 2) alluding to her name.

Etymology

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From French rébus (“rebus (puzzle); ambiguity; word used in an oblique sense; unintelligible remark”), or directly from its probable etymon Latin rēbus, the ablative plural of rēs (“object, stuff, thing; issue, matter, subject, topic”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁ís (“goods; wealth”). The connection between the English word and its Latin etymon is unclear.

further etymology

The following possibilities have been suggested, but according to the Oxford English Dictionary are problematic:[1]

  • According to the French scholar Gilles Ménage (1613–1692) in Les origines de la langue françoise (The Origins of the French Language, 1650),[2] it is taken from the phrase de rebus quae geruntur (“concerning the things that are taking place”) which was used in 16th-century Picardy as the name for satirical writings on contemporary subjects containing picture-riddles that were composed for an annual carnival. However, the term rebus de Picardie is first attested later than the word rébus, and so could simply refer to rebuses popular in Picardy at the time.
  • Alternatively, it could be from the phrase nōn verbīs sed rēbus meaning “not by words but by things”, but this “encounters difficulties in the chronology of the senses in French”.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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Examples (phonetic hint)
  • 銅 (OC *doːŋ) is made of 金 +‎ 同 (*doːŋ); 同 is the rebus.
  • 疏 (OC *sŋra, *sŋras) is rebus 疋 (*ŋraːʔ, *sŋra, *sŋraʔ) +‎ 㐬.

rebus (plural rebuses or (rare) rebusses or (hypercorrect, rare) rebi)

  1. An arrangement of pictures, symbols, and/or words representing phrases or words, especially as a word puzzle.
    Synonyms: rebus puzzle, dingbat
    • 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, I.i:
      I back him at a Rebus or a Charade against the best Rhymer in the Kingdom—has your Ladyship heard the Epigram he wrote last week on Lady Frizzle's Feather catching Fire—
  2. (linguistics) A pictographic component of a compound character (e.g. sinograph) used to hint at the pronunciation of the compound.
    Hypernym: phonetic
    Coordinate term: determinative
  3. (specifically, heraldry) An arrangement of pictures on a coat of arms which suggests the name of the person to whom it belongs.
    Coordinate term: cant
    • 2020 March 5, Hilary Mantel, “Salvage: London, Summer 1536”, in The Mirror & the Light, London: 4th Estate, →ISBN, page 122:
      The prior [Will Bolton] used to come out here to hunt in summer and recreate himself, and his rebus—a barrel or tun shot through with a crossbow bolt—is set into the garden walls.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Verb

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rebus (third-person singular simple present rebuses or rebusses, present participle rebusing or rebussing, simple past and past participle rebused or rebussed) (transitive, obsolete, rare)

  1. To represent (a phrase or word) as a rebus.
  2. To apply a rebus to (something).
    • 1655, Thomas Fuller, “Section IV. To John Ferrars, of Tamworth Castle, Esquire.”, in The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI), subsection 34 (The Death of Archbishop Morton. A.D. 1500.), page 539:
      He [John Morton] was a learned man, and had a fair library, (rebussed with more in text and tun under it,) partly remaining in the possession of the late earl of Arundel.

References

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  1. ^ “rebus, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2020; “rebus, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ Gilles Ménage (1650) Les origines de la langue françoise [The Origins of the French Language], Paris: Chez Augustin Courbé, →OCLC.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Crimean Tatar

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Etymology

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French rébus, from Latin rebus.

Noun

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rebus

  1. rebus.

Declension

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Declension of rebus
nominative rebus
genitive rebusnıñ
dative rebusqa
accusative rebusnı
locative rebusta
ablative rebustan

References

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  • Mirjejev, V. A., Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎[1], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

Danish

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Noun

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rebus c (singular definite rebussen, plural indefinite rebusser)

  1. rebus (puzzle)

Declension

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Declension of rebus
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative rebus rebussen rebusser rebusserne
genitive rebus' rebussens rebussers rebussernes

Estonian

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Noun

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rebus

  1. inessive singular of rebu

French

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Verb

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rebus

  1. first/second-person singular past historic of reboire

Participle

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rebus m pl

  1. masculine plural of rebu

Anagrams

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Indonesian

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Etymology

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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /rəˈbʊs/
  • Rhymes: -bʊs
  • Hyphenation: rê‧bus

Verb

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rêbus (active merebus, passive direbus, perfective passive terebus)

  1. (transitive) to boil (to cook in boiling water)

Adjective

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rêbus

  1. boiled (cooked in boiling water)

Derived terms

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Italian

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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rebus m (invariable)

  1. rebus
  2. enigma
  3. puzzle
  4. conundrum
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Latin

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Noun

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rēbus f

  1. dative/ablative plural of rēs (“object, thing, matter”)

References

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Malay

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Adjective

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rebus (Jawi spelling ربوس)

  1. boiled (food)

Verb

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rebus

  1. to boil (food)

Further reading

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Maltese

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Italian rebus, from Latin rēbus.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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rebus m (plural rebus)

  1. mess, clutter

Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology

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Borrowed from French rébus. Doublet of raj (“paradise”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈrɛ.bus/
  • Rhymes: -ɛbus
  • Syllabification: re‧bus

Noun

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rebus m inan (diminutive rebusik)

  1. rebus (puzzle)

Declension

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Declension of rebus
singular plural
nominative rebus rebusy
genitive rebusu rebusów
dative rebusowi rebusom
accusative rebus rebusy
instrumental rebusem rebusami
locative rebusie rebusach
vocative rebusie rebusy

Derived terms

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adjective

Further reading

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Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French rébus.

Noun

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rebus n (plural rebusuri)

  1. rebus, crossword

Declension

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singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative rebus rebusul rebusuri rebusurile
genitive-dative rebus rebusului rebusuri rebusurilor
vocative rebusule rebusurilor

Serbo-Croatian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /rěːbus/
  • Hyphenation: re‧bus

Noun

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rébus m (Cyrillic spelling ре́бус)

  1. rebus

Declension

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Declension of rebus
singular plural
nominative rebus rebusi
genitive rebusa rebusa
dative rebusu rebusima
accusative rebus rebuse
vocative rebuse rebusi
locative rebusu rebusima
instrumental rebusom rebusima

Swedish

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Noun

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rebus c

  1. a rebus; a kind of word puzzle

Declension

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Declension of rebus
nominative genitive
singular indefinite rebus rebus
definite rebusen rebusens
plural indefinite rebusar rebusars
definite rebusarna rebusarnas

Synonyms

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References

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